


The Prompted Collection of Short Stories

by Shadowshot536



Series: Prompted One shots [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Drabble, Other, Random & Short, Short, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-05 21:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12197424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowshot536/pseuds/Shadowshot536
Summary: A collection of short stories created based on writing prompts. Contains violence and gore. Reader discretion is advised.





	1. Age of the Machines

**Author's Note:**

> First work on this site. Please inform me if something is wrong or could be better. Thank you!
> 
> Mankind has surpassed their natural limits. This has grave results on the world around them.

“Look Mommy, look!” my son shouted in excitement. “It's a Cobra Mommy, a Cobra!” He tugged me closer to it. “Can I touch it?” He questioned me.

“Yes honey, you can pet the Cobra.” I easily granted him permission to pet the snake. After all the safety protocol in it would shut it down before it could even put the thought of harming a human through it's processor. Anyways, it wasn't real. Then again, neither were we. None of the animals or trees or people in the world were real anymore. We killed everything in the Great War of Mankind.

Resources for everything was running low. We had no clean water, no edible food, and we were running out of air. Country had raged against country, each wanting what was left of the necessary resources. By the time the war had stopped, humankind was in shambles. Diseases were running rampant though the street and what was left of the wildlife was picking off people as their food sources were destroyed as well as ours. The soil, trees and wildlife were poisoned from the war and all that was left were meagre amounts from the great populations that once existed.

Then a godsend appeared. Scientists, well what was left of them, managed to 'upgrade' the human body. Food was no longer necessary for survival. Soon, the need for air and water followed. We should have stopped there, but we didn't. We figured that if we could achieve immorality, why couldn't the animals and trees.

We decided to try and replicate what was done to us and save what was left of the world. And it worked, but at a great price. We had forgotten the definition of life. For it to be considered life, it needed to reproduce. No mechanical being can reproduce without having to build a new creature. We had destroyed and then erased the natural world in our need to protect it. Now all we have are fake, unrealistic replicas of the paradise that the world used to be.

With true nature gone, all our new children will know is this world full of metal and believe that it has always been this way. They will never know the joy of playing in mud puddles and smelling the rain. They will not know of the warmth that fills you when an animal trust you to let you touch them without issuing a command.

Even now I am forgetting what the real world had looked like. My memories are corrupting and I will soon lose all of my memories of the real wold. I suppose it is for the best.

After all, why should I get to have fond memories from a world that I personally destroyed. I should have never created the first human upgrade.


	2. April Fools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When someone says they don't like something, you really shouldn't push them too hard. They could just snap.

You know, I used to really hate this day.

I despised with every fibre of my being.

I detested it, loathed it, wished for it to meet it's miserable end and to be gone from this world forever.

Now, I suppose you can say that my feelings for this day have be altered from their original state.

I guess that I could say that my view on this day had changed because of you.

I realized that I ought to thank you for the change. You opened my eyes to the realm of possibilities that this day offered me.

So now here I am, here to thank you and to make sure that my thanks will be the most memorable thank you that you will have ever seen.

You should be honoured that you are the first person to receive my thanks for this gift that you have given me. After all, it is only right that you be the first to experience it as you gave me the gift.

Just think of all the fun that I can and will have now because you had gave me this gift of fun and laughter.

After all, who can't be happy when the last words that they will hear will be the most innocent of words in the world,

**'April Fools'**


	3. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever wonder why we don't remember dreams? Turns out that there is a very good reason why.

Dreams.

  
          A word that brings to mind a place that is happy without any problems in sight. A place where you can be truly free without having to worry about rules, bills or even people and their feelings. Many people wish to remember these dreams so that they can feel and remember that freedom. I was no different at the time.

 

          With my two friends and fellow scientists, Alex and Chris. We decided to create a device that enables the user to remember every aspect of their dreams. Eventually, many months later, we had built a machine that allowed us to remember our dreams. We had spent many nights trying to decide on how to test it out. Soon, we decided to test it out on some kids.

  
          The first testing run we did was on ten kids with a variety of backgrounds. We connected the machine to the kid's mind and left them overnight in a secure room with cameras. When we came back in the morning we had found out that the project was a success! The kids were able to tells us exactly what their dreams were about. We heard stories of knight and princesses, being the richest people in the world, and being famous. With this success fresh in our minds, we had decided to test it out on a twenty adults and twenty kids to see if the results would be a success just like the first test run.

  
          When we came back in the morning, the results we had were horrifying. The moment we opened the code locked doors, we were hit with the coppery smell of blood. The whole facility was a blood bath. We rushed to the sleeping room, but all of us were horrified with what we seen inside those doors. The walls of the room were smeared and dripping with blood and gore. Ripped apart bodies lied everywhere. Many looked as if they were fighting before their death, with necks tore open and pieces of their bodies missing. Others looked as if they died of fright in their sleep.

 

          My two fellow scientists and I decided to continue exploring the room to find out what had happened. As we explored, we came across an largely intact male body. As we approached it, we discovered that he was still alive. He was lying on his stomach so my colleges and I grabbed him to roll him over. As soon as we touched him, he lunged for Alex. Within a split second, Alex was dead from a broken neck. Chris and I began to run for our lives with this man chasing us. As we sprinted down the hallway that connected to the dream room, I dared to take a look back to see the man. I wish I never looked.

  
          The man was missing his left eye and his left cheek. Both looked to have been tore at with finger nails. His mouth looked as if it was dripping with blood, but I couldn't discern if it was his or someone else's. His left hand was the worst. He was missing all but his thumb and his index finger. The rest were bloody stumps cut off at the knuckles or were just hanging on by a piece of skin. His clothes were soaked with the blood of those who had perished in that room.

  
          I turn my head forwards again, all the while trying not to vomit up my breakfast. We kept on running, clipping corners, and racing to get to a hiding spot. All the while _he_  was chasing us. Eventually, we gained enough distance from him to hide in a room. It turned out that we had ended up in the security room. On the cameras we watched the deranged man race past our hiding spot and continue on. As I was catching my breath, Chris told me that he was going to make a break for the door and get out while I was going to stay here and make sure that this man didn't follow him and get out onto the streets and kill innocent civilians.

  
          As I was watching the screens, I noticed that the man had managed to pick an axe and was heading for Chris. I had to stop him! I tore out of that room and started heading to where I had last seen the man. As I caught up to the man, he was rapidly approaching Chris. I shouted to him, screaming "Hey idiot, look over here you meat head!” The man swung his head around and faced me.

 

          All of a sudden, all that courage and bravery I felt had turned to dust and was whisked away when I caught a glimpse of that nightmarish face again. The man gave a garbled scream and I shrieked and streaked out of there trying to get away from him. He gave another one of those awful, mind-numbing screams and tore after me, leaving Chris alone. As I ran away from him, I was scanning my mind trying to remember where all of the dead ends were in this facility so I wouldn't try and run into them and get myself killed.

 

          In this twisted, demented game of Cat and Mouse continued, several time I nearly gotten caught by that crazed man. Sometime later I found myself in a janitors room. I was trying to catch my breath when I heard him come by, growling to himself.  Terrified, I started to back away from the door, only to knock over some brooms and mops.

 

          The growing stopped and so did my breathing. After a few moments of body-numbing fear later, I slunk closer to the door to see if he was gone. Just as I pressed my ear against the door, it began to violently rattled and shake. I screamed and jumped back as the axe head found it's way through the middle of the door. I just kept screaming as he made his way through the door. Clawing and snarling, he completely chewed through the door, leaving splinters on the floor.

 

          As he approached me and started raising the axe to deliver the final blow, I never stopped screaming and curled up into a little ball. All of a sudden, gunshots rang out into the air, stopping the man in his tracks. I was saved! He turned and went after those who where shooting the guns. As he started to ran towards them, they just kept pumping lead into him. A few steps before them, he finally collapsed from blood-loss. They declared him dead on site. Eventually, the mess was cleaned up and Chris and I went home.

 

          I went home and I had seen the machine sitting right beside my bed. I thought about what had happened at the facility and decided to try it out for myself to see what went wrong. I was alone so I couldn't hurt anybody and no one would know that I used it. So it was settled, I attached the machine to me then went to bed.

 

          When I opened my eyes again, I was in the facility. 'Why?' I wondered. I began to walk around and soon I noticed the coppery smell of blood. I whipped around and came nose to nose with that man again. I screamed like a banshee and twisted around and bolted away from him. As he was chasing me around again, I ended up in the janitors room again. He began to chew through the door again and got through I remembered that I was saved at this point and calmed down. I stayed calm till I found the head of the axe halfway through my arm. Then I started screaming from the pain and terror. As I laid there, being torn apart by this deranged man, I remember what I had forgotten.

 

_Nightmares are dreams too._


	4. Nursery Rhymes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Use a nursery rhyme to create a dark story

_Mary had a little lamb._   
_Little lamb._   
_Little lamb._   
_Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow._

* * *

_Mary had a little lamb_

 

They never stops singing that, do they?

 

_Little lamb_

No sir, they don't.

 

I wonder what goes on in that head of theirs.

 

_Little lamb_

Everyone wonders that sir.

 

It is a shame that this brilliant mind deteriorated into this, isn't it?

 

_Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow_

 

It is indeed sir.

 

To believe, it all started with that nursery rhyme they are always singing.

 

_Mary had a little lamb_

How so sir?

 

Many years ago, they had grown up to that song. It soon became the only thing that could soothe them. Then they began singing it all the time. We should have noticed that it was weird, it was strange, it was wrong.

 

_Little lamb_

How was it wrong sir?

 

It was wrong as they stopped talking except to say those god-forsaken words. Eventually we took them to a physiatrist to see if the problem could be solved. He had suggested to remove them from their current environment to see if that would help.

 

_Little lamb_

Did it sir?

 

It did. We banned that song from our house and moved to the city and home schooled them to make sure that it was never repeated. Years passed with out a problem. They graduated and became the top of their chosen field. Then that fateful day happened.

 

_Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow_

 

What had happened on that day sir?

 

The worst thing that could have happened. They heard and remembered that damn song. It just got worse from there. They started buying lamb themed everything, from clothes to wall paper to stuffed lamb dolls. It's sad that their mind had broken down eventually.

  
  


 

 

 

What is wrong girl, lamb got your tongue?

 

_Mary had a little lamb_

_Little lamb_

_Little lamb_

_Mary had a little lamb,_

_  
w h o s e  f l e e c e  w a s  w h i t e  a s  s n o w._


	5. Mirror, Mirror

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:  There is a mirror, a mirror which will show you how you will die.

_Carian_

_We have heard about your wishes to become a great detective so we have a case for you to solve for us. There is a legend that contains a mirror that can show you your death. There is another legend that contains a saying that will activate the mirror. These words have been passed around for centuries by my family. We were the guardians of the mirror but it was stolen from us. We are entrusting you to go and retrieve the mirror for us. In order to find which mirror it is, you may have to complete the saying and then ask to see your death._

 

_Slave In The Magic Mirror,_

_Come From The Farthest Space,_

_Through Wind And Darkness I Summon Thee._

_Speak! Let Me See Thy Face_

  _Magic mirror on the wall,_

_Show Me the Fate that Befalls Us All_

 

_Please burn this letter after receiving and reading it as if the wrong person gets a hold of both the mirror and it's saying, the man could gain eternal life and go mad with power. Please return the mirror at all costs. You will be paid handsomely for your troubles. The mirror is oval and it’s outside frame is completely made of mahogany that has been twisted into intricate designs. The last known location of the mirror is known to be in the home of a man by the name Dieb Klein. Be careful as you are not the first person we have asked to retrieve this mirror for us and we wish for you to be the last._

_Good Luck and best of wishes,_

_Speculo Societas_

 

        I read over the handwritten letter one more time then I threw it into my cheerfully popping fire place. I stretched my weary back and listened as the joint clicked back into their proper places. Sighing in content, I lowered my arms and began to pondered over the mysterious letter that I had retrieved from the delivery girl.

        “I wonder where in the bloody blazes the letter had come from, don't you Lovac?” I asked my cat, who only yawned at me and settled down in front of the fire place after being kicked off of my lap when I had stood up.

        “Speculo Societas appears to be the previous owners of the letter. Huh, that sounds Latin. I'll have to go get the dictionary” I muttered to myself as I went searching for the aforementioned book. I finally found it under a mountain of other books that I had promised myself a long time ago to clean up.

        After digging it out from under that massive pile of books, I toted it back to my soft, plush chair in front of the crackling fire place. After I settled down, I cracked open the book and set to work on translating the two words. Around an hour of searching, I finally decoded the words. In English, Speculo Societas means Mirror Society.

        I aired my complaints to Lovac. “Kind of a drab name for a group that supposedly guards a magic fortune telling mirror, right Lovac? It's not like they couldn't have chosen a more interesting name.”

        "That person's name though, I feel as if I should know it." I started to pace in front of my fireplace with my cat watching me all the while trying to remember where I had heard the name Dieb Klien. I plopped down in my chair with a huff and started rubbing my temples. Lovac jumped onto my lap and settled down whilst kneading my lags.

        “Ow ow ow. Stop it Lovac! That hurts! Ow ow ow.” Then realization hit me like a lightning bolt. I remember were I had heard that name before! He is one of my mother's cousins and he gave me Lovac. She always used to curse him out and call him a Wisenheimer. She hated him because he was known for using his money to get what he wants and as of late, he seems to be bragging more and more about his money than he usually does. I believe he is in possession of the mirror and is using it as a source of income!

        I leaped up in the excitement of my discovery and I accidentally forgot about the cat. I didn't forget him for very long though as he sank his claws into my legs once more and shot off like a rocket. When he had done that I (unfortunately) let out a short squeal of pain that I will admit, sounded girly. As I lied on the floor while silently groaning and crying in pain, I started rubbing my legs to remove some of the sting. As I was trying to remove my pain, I remembered that to get to his house is two and a half hours of travel by foot or an hour of travel by horse, and I don't own a horse.

        “What the dickens am I going to do now Lovac?” I asked my cat. “I do not wish to walk for two hour to visit a relative that I have only seen once in my life. I was promised a lot of money if I got the mirror back though. Decisions, decisions.”

        As I hummed and hawed over the decision till I finally settled on going to visit him. I went to the well outside to grab a bucket of water to fill my canteens with for the walk there and I grabbed a loaf of bread and placed all of it in my knapsack. I gave Lovac enough extra food to last him a good set of days.

        “Cheerio, old boy. Behave while I'm gone Lovac. I shall return to you soon.” I called to my cat. After that I turned and began the long and tedious journey to my once removed first cousin's house.

        The first half of the trip there was quite enjoyable. The birds were singing their hearts out, the wind was caressing my skin, all around me was lush, green foliage, and even the air smell fresh and sweet with the scent of many flowers. I could almost even taste the freshness of the air itself!

        I confidently continued on the path for a fair bit of time till I was about half way to his house. All of a sudden, the sky started to darkened and within minutes it looked as if the sky was preparing to drop the tears of the sky on my head. The trees changed as well and looked half dead and skeletal, seeming to claw at the sky. The quite and peaceful music of the birds ceased to exist and even the air had changed in a drastic way. It had gone from being fresh and sweet to being stagnant and sour, carrying the smell of decay.

        I looked around myself to figure out when this change had occurred, but all I seen around me was this same haunting scenery. It was even that way up the path from whence I came. I could not see the start of this scenery nor was I able to see the end of it.

        My confidence now completely shaken for its foundation, I continued on my quest to my cousins house in order to see if he was the person who was currently in possession of the Mirror of Death

        I continued in my travels, but I was not unaware of my surroundings. I was weary of it and stayed on the tips of my toes for the rest of the entirety of my trip. The slightest of sounds would set me off into a heart-pounding, mad sprint to evacuate the area surrounding whence the sound had originated from. Needless to say, when I had finally reached my destination, I was as jumpy as a mouse in a house full of cats and with no place to hide.

        I looked up at the house and stood there dumbfounded by what I was seeing in front of my eyes. I had lead myself to believe that my cousin had a mansion. I was completely wrong. My older cousin was, in fact, the owner of a medieval castle.

        The castle was massive. It loomed over my small body and it's shadow reached towards me, trying to sink its inky black hands into my soul. The walls were made of dark granite, with blocks the size of my torso. On top of these walls and standing along the pathway on columns there were perched countless ashen gargoyles. Each had a vague resemblance to men with the additions of large, sleek wings and a tail. On their hands and feet were a set of long claws. The claws looked to be sharp as daggers and were undoubtedly sharp enough to slice through my flesh like a knife through hot butter. I shuddered at the thought of one of them getting their cold hands on me and opening me up like a bag of treats. As I was finishing my examination on them, I notice the final two features on the gargoyles. The first was that a small minority of them seemed to be made in a female's likeness. The final feature I notices was the most disturbing and frightening of them all. Each and everyone of the gargoyles had their heads thrown back with their faces twisted into a silent screams of pain and terror.

        I quickly averted my eyes from them and tried to focus my attention on the large black door in front of me. As soon as I stepped forwards into the tall shadow of the castle, I began to shiver uncontrollably. It felt as if the castle was trying to suck the heat of my body and with every step closer to it, the temperature dropped further and further and my shaking grew even worse. I finally came face to face with the door and as I was trying to will my arms away from my body in order to knock on the door, I swore that my breath was visible in the air. Just as my hand was about to make contact with the black door, I heard a sound behind me. It resembled the sound that two wet stones would make when being ground against one another. Twisting around as fast as I could, I seen another gargoyle that was perched daintily on a column of pure stone. Across from it was another column of stone but it was empty. This one appeared to be carved to resemble a female. This one wasn't identical like the other, it was completely different.

        Her head was twisted towards me and she was snarling in my direction. Then, she began to advance on me. My back hit the door with a solid banging sound as I tried my hardest to scramble away from that, that, that... monstrosity! (Don't know if that should be like that) She was creeping closer to me, inch by painstaking inch. She was reaching for my face! She was almost touching me! I released a terrified scream and covered my face with my arms.

        Wham! I fell on my back and the air was knocked put of my lungs. As I was gasping to replenish my air I heard a low droning sound in my ears and felt something trying to separate my arms. That thing was above me!

        “No no no no no! Get away from me!” I shrieked as loud as I could. As I continued to struggle the pressure continued to get stronger and stronger.

        “Calm down cousin. Calm down!” The words begin shouted to me finally filtered through my ears. My struggling and my pounding heartbeat slowed as the words began to register in my head.

        I peeked through a minute crack in between in my arms. “Dieb? Is that you?” I questioned to the person standing above me.

        “Yes cousin, it is I, Dieb.” He answered me back. “What had terrified you so, my younger cousin?” He asked me whilst peering out the window into the forest. “Was something chasing you through the woods?”

        “No no.” I answered back. “Just my mind playing tricks on me” After all, who has ever heard of a gargoyle moving? I was just tired after my walk and perhaps a little dehydrated, that was all. Death telling mirrors, moving statues ha! What was next? A spell that can change humans into something else? Dismissing the thoughts that were circling in my head, I began to stand up. As I stood, I needed to tighten my grip on the wall as the floor swayed beneath my feet. I must have shown my wooziness as I was standing up as Dieb gasped and grabbed my arms and helped me steady myself.

        “You do not look well, little cousin. Please, let me take you to a spare room so that you may rest up and regain your strength.” He insisted, almost to the point of begging. Another bout of dizziness came and answered his pleas and he began to lead me deeper into the bowels of the mansion. “Come, come little cousin. This way to your room were you will rest.” We walked for a bit till we reached a big Mahogany door that was carved with ivy around the edges. Dieb heaved it open and then lead me inside the room, heading to the bed. He helped me get seated on it and them went over to fire place on the other side of the room.

        I collapsed onto it with a grateful sigh and closed my eyes, letting my head hit the pillow. “Thank you Dieb. I am forever in your debt.”

        “Nonsense little cousin, for all I did was help a family member out.” He answered back. He leaned back from the now crackling fire place. “Now get some rest and I will bring you some food as I am certain that you are hungry after your trip here, am I correct?”

        “Yes Dieb, you are correct.” I confirmed. “I would like to have some food if that would not be a problem for you. I do not wish to burden you.”

        He chuckled “No, no problem at all little cousin. You are my guest and I must care for you. After all, it has been many months since your last trip here and I wish to make you happy so that you may visit again.” He poked at the fire once more than stood up. “This fire will make you warm my little cousin, be patient and settle in while I bring you your food.”

        As he left, I gladly followed his orders and dropped my bag beside the bed and tucked myself under the wooly sheets on the bed. Once I was settled in, I looked around my room and took note of what was in it. It was a decently sized room with a bed, a fireplace and a big window. It wasn't much but the room had a nice, cozy feeling to it. Or that could be just from the fire.

        The door creaked open. “Here I am little cousin. I formally apologize for the time that you were forced to wait while I was making you some supper.” He apologized whilst coming towards me with a plate heaping with food. He set it in front of me and I looked over what was on my plate. “There is salted pork with some bread that I had made this morning and a roasted potato. Also, here is a rag for you to wash up with. I hope that this will be good enough for you, my little cousin.”

I picked up the plate and brought it closer to me. I then began to eat while my cousin was talking to me.

        “You know the oddest thing had happened to me last week. I had went outside for my usual morning walk and sitting right in front of my door was a mirror. I looked around, but I didn't even see any foot prints.”

        A mirror? I wonder if it's the one I'm looking for! It would be a good stroke of luck if it is. “What does the mirror look like Dieb?” I questioned him.

        It's oval and the outside frame is completely made of mahogany that has been twisted into intricate designs depicting dragons. I have not seen anything like it before.”

        It was the missing mirror! I instantly sat up straight in the bed and looked right to Dieb's face. “Where is it? Can I see it?” I insistently questioned him.

        “Calm down cousin, calm down. I will let you see it in the morning when you are well rested. Maybe I will even let you help me translate the Latin that wraps around the edge of the mirror. Now sleep. The mirror won't go anywhere.”

        “Yes Dieb,” I pouted. My jaws then stretched open as I yawned. “Good night Dieb. Thank you for the bed and food. I promise that I will repay your kindness as soon as possible.” I rolled over and tucked myself further into the bed.

        “Goodnight little cousin. There is no need for you to repay me. Your help on the mirror will be thanks enough.” He ruffled up the hair on top of my head and then left the room and closed the door behind him.

        I wrapped the wool blanket around me and started to drift off into a restful slumber. The last thing that I heard before I was swept from the land of the conscious was the low sound of rock grinding on rock.

        I awoke to the sound of something moving in my room. I shot up in my bed as scanned my room for the intruder. There was no one in my room. I know I heard something. I decided to investigate. I reached for my bag and discovered that it was missing. Now I know for sure that someone was in here.

        I got up and shivered as my feet touched the cold stone floor. Glancing around as if my feet touching the floor would summon my cousin or the monsters that lurk around this castle. When no one appear from the darkness, I stood up from the bed and walked over to the fire place.

        “The ash was still warm which means that I haven't been out long.” I thought out loud. Taking another look around my room, I decided to go look for the mirror myself. Tiptoeing to the door, I pulled it open and peeked out into the hallway. Looking both ways, I seen no one and stepped out of my room. Checking once more, I continued into the bowels of the castle as I knew that it wasn't in the front or I would have seen it.

        Walking. Walking. Walking. Would I ever find the mirror? All I was finding was endless hallways and new ways to give myself nightmares. To keep myself calm, I started to hum the rhyme for the mirror. Suddenly a glow had caught my eye.

        I turned and looked. There was the mirror in all of it's glory sitting right by the main door. I could have kicked myself in the rump. It was in the front hall this entire time. Muttering insults and curses direct at myself, I stalked up to the mirror. As I began my examination of it, I took not of the Latin word transvorto which means transform. During my examination of the mirror the moon cut through the gloom outside and lit up the mirror. The mirror shone like the sun and I couldn't focus on anything but the mirror. Everything else was worthless compared to the mirror.

It so shiny.

So pretty.

So lonely.

It wants a song.

A perfect song.

I have a song.

I must sing it.

Slave In The Magic Mirror,

Come From The Farthest Place,

Through Wind And Darkness I Summon Thee.

Speak! Let Me See Thy Face

 Magic mirror on the wall,

Show Me the Fate that Befalls Us All

 

What did I do? What did I do?!

        The mirror began to fill with smoke. Suddenly the picture cleared and showed a picture of me in it. The mirror me waved and smile at me. The smile didn't stay there for very long as it suddenly twisted into a opened mouth scream of pain. My skin – his skin, turned grey and hardening. Wings burst out of his back with a spurt of blood and I – he collapsed onto the ground writhing and twisting, clawing and grabbing, crying and howling. When the transformation ended in my – his place was a gargoyle. Suddenly his, no the gargoyle's, head turned and looked right at me and lunged.

        I didn't stay there to see if he – it made it out of the mirror. I made it halfway to my room before my skin felt as it it was on fire. I collapsed onto the ground and began to copy the movements that my mirror me had done. As I began to change I was writhing and twisting, clawing and grabbing, crying and howling, hoping that this process could be stopped.

        I don't know how long, but eventually it did stop, but I was made immobile. I head footsteps approaching and I prayed that it wasn't Deib. My prayer never came true.

        “Well, well, well little cousin. It looks as if your curiosity got you hm?” Dieb mocked above me. “You know, the reason I offered you the chance to translate for me was so that you didn't fall for this trap. Unfortunately, your curiosity got in the way and look what you are now, my personal slave for eternity!”

        I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't even speak. Deib must have know what I was thinking though. “Your questioning how the mirror never affected me aren't you?” He chuckled. The answer is exceedingly simple. My partner read the same words you did and tried them on the mirror. She turned out just as you did. Of course I was going to turn her back until I found that because I was the owner of the mirror, I had control over her. Unfortunately because she was the first she can have moments of free will. It is annoying when your first slave does manage to scare away new potential slaves.”

        He broke down in laughter once more. “That's were you come in little cousin. I knew you wouldn't turn tail and run if something scared you. It's a shame I won't be willing to sell you. I believe that you would catch a pretty pound. But alas, I need you to complete my front door set with my partner. Hope you don't mind the cold.” He cackled.

“Now excuse me and go to your new post while I look into the mirror and check how I am doing,” he ordered.

As I lumbered on all fours to my post for all eternity, I heard the words behind me.

Slave In The Magic Mirror,

Come From The Farthest Space,

Through Wind And Darkness I Summon Thee.

Speak! Let Me See Thy Face

 Magic mirror on the wall,

Show Me the Fate that Befalls Us All

        One word. One word was all I had gotten wrong. I reached the door and managed to open and close it and continued onto my post. I reached the post and crawled up it and perched there, making sure to arrange myself in a semi-comfortable position before my body had hardened all the way. Looking up to the face that I would be seeing for all eternity, I saw the female gargoyle and she had my bag in her claws. Looking up higher I saw that she had a small, sad smile on her face.

        As the hardening had reached my ears, the last thing I heard was a small and tear filled “I’m sorry.” Then I felt no more.


	6. In the Walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can hear them in the walls...

I can hear them in the walls.

Whispering, giggling. Planning my demise.

I can feel their eyes on me watching my every move.

Observing, tracking. Planning my demise.

I can see them through the holes in the walls.

Shifting, stretching. Planning my demise.

I can smell them in the walls.

Rotting, decaying. Planning my demise.

I can taste them through the walls.

Cloying, sickening. Planning my demise.

Soon they will have me.

Soon I will join them.

There is no better place for me.

After all, I put them there.


	7. The Voice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is someone in my head. But it's not me.

There is someone in my head. But it's not me.

It tells me things.

It used to tell me good things.

Like how to get a girl to like you or how to impress someone.

One day it changed.

It started to tell me bad things.

Things I don't want to know.

Secrets. Ways to kill and get away with it.

I wanted it to go away and told it that.

It hissed back that it was here forever, it would never leave me.

I grew scared and panicked.

It had laughed at me and mocked me for my weakness.

Now, it's not laughing. But I am.

I will be rid of the voice forever.

I will be free.

I feel so light, so empty.

I am free.

And all it took was a couple of pills.


End file.
